Reflex-reflective sign structure



May 21, 1968 T. E. ARMSTRONG REFLEX-REFLECTIVE SIGN STRUCTURE Filed March 8, 1965 /e22 for as K612225290? W United States Patent 3,383,789 REFLEX-REFLECTIVE SIGN STRUCTURE Thomas E. Armstrong, 6546 Westshire, Kalamazoo, Mich. 49002 Filed Mar. 8, 1965, Ser. No. 437,973 4 Claims. (Cl. 40-135) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Reflex-reflective sign structure comprising integral sheet of transparent material with convex protuberances on both sides, a. backing with indicia on a surface thereof, and support means for supporting said backing and indicia in contact with said transparent sheet, especially such structure wherein said indicia and backing is removable and thus changeable. I

The present invention relates to reflective sign structures, and is more particularly concerned with such signs having reflex-reflective properties.

Reflective signs have been employed for many years for advertising purposes, as Well as for conveying safety instructions to the motorist. For daylight use ordinary reflective signs are entirely suitable, since they are uniformly illuminated and reflect light to the viewer in any direction. However, ordinary reflective signs are unsatisfactory for night use where they must be illuminated by the headlights of the car operated by the viewer. In order to provide the motorist with a sufficiently bright reflected image at night, it has become customary either to coat signs with a reflex-reflective paint having a plurality of small glass beads, or alternatively to provide a transparent reflex-reflective sheet having a reflector at the rear surface and providing masks on the front surface to form the sign indicia. Signs of this type have proven to be very effective since they have the property of being reflex-reflective, that is, reflecting a substantial amount of light in the direction of the incident beam, instead of reflecting most of the light at an angle of reflection oriented on the opposite side of the incident beam, according to the known laws of reflection. As a result, even though the incident light beam is not normal to the sign, a sufficient amount of light is reflected back in the direction of the incident beam to provide a sufficiently bright image, as for exam le for the operator of the vehicle whose headlights provide the source of sign illumination. However, prior art reflex-reflective signs have had several attendant drawbacks. For the most part they are permanent signs and, when different sign indicia are to be substituted for the existing indicia, a completely new sign must be constructed and erected. Even where reflexrefle-ctive signs have been provided utilizing a replaceable front mask, such Signs have not been suitable for reflecting high resolution images.

It is accordingly an object of the present invention to provide a reflex-reflective sign having replaceable sign indicia. It is a further object to provide a sign of the type described comprising a reflective element and a removable and replaceable backing sheet bearing sign indicia supported against the rear surface of the element. It is an additional object to provide a reflex-reflective sign of the type described which is relatively simple to manufacture. It is another object to provide such a sign which can produce a reflex-reflective image of high resolution. Additional objects and advantages will be apparent to one skilled in the art and still other advantages will become apparent hereinafter.

The invention in its preferred embodiment is illustrated by the accompanying drawings in which:

3,383,789 Patented May 21, 1968 ice serving as a plurality of lenses on both surfaces of the transparent sheet. The individual protuberances of one surface are preferably in individual registry with protuberances of the other surface, permitting the reflex-reflective sheet to provide a high degree of image resolution of sign indicia in contact with the rear surface thereof. An opaque supporting member or sheet having sign indicia provided thereon is mounted at the rear of the transparent sheet with the sign indicia in contact with the. rear surface of the sheet. In one embodiment a frame is provided in which the transparent sheet is positioned and in which the sign backing sheet bearing sign indicia may be replaceably inserted. A sign structure is thus provided having reflex-reflective properties, and wherein the sign indicia and its supporting backing member may be readily removed and replaced by a backing member having different sign indicia provided thereon. As used herein, the term sign indicia refers to any intelligence material such as writing, pictures, designs, or other indicia conveying a message either informational 'or aesthetic.

Reference is now made to the accompanying drawings for a better understanding of the inventon, wherein all of the parts are numbered and wherein the same numbers are used to refer to corresponding parts throughout.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, a sign according to the invention is illustrated comprising a frame 1 and a reflexreflective sheet 2. Supported in contact with the rear surface of the reflex-reflective sheet 2 is a backing member 3 having sign indicia 4 applied to the surface of the backing member in contact with the rear surface of the reflexreflective sheet 2.

An alternative embodiment of the invention is shown in cross-section of FIG. 3 comprising a reflex-reflective sheet 2 similar to that shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. A backing member 3 having sign indicia 4 applied to the anterior surface thereof is supported against the posterior surface of the reflex-reflective sheet by means of an adhesive. The adhesive should be of such nature that the backing containing the sign indicia may be stripped off from the reflex-reflective sheet 2 whenever it is desired to change or replace it with another backing member having different sign indicia.

The reflex-reflective sheet comprises a transparent sheet of glass or a plastic material having a plurality of convexly curved protuberances on both surfaces thereof. The thickness of the sheet may be from extremely thin, as for example as thin as tissue paper, or as thick as one quarter inch or more. The number of protuberances per square foot may range from thousands to less than twenty, depending on the size of the protuberances.

A reflex-reflective member is shown in greater detail in FIGS. 4 and 5 and comprises an integral sheet of a transparent material provided with convexly curved protuberances 5 and 6 at both surfaces thereof. The protuberances are preferably in the form of spherical sectors. Alternatively, parabolic, ellipsoidal, or lenticular protuberances may be used. The upper protuberances 5 of the reflex-reflective sheet should preferably be in registry with the lower protuberances 6, that is, the upper protuberances should be directly juxtaposed over corresponding lower protuberances, as shown in FIG. 5. As a result a plurality of bi-concave lenses are formed which provide an image of higher resolution.

The transparent reflex-reflective sheet may be prepared by molding, extrusion and molding, or by embossing a prepared sheet of clear material, depending on the nature of the composition from which the sheet is prepared, as for example, whether it is glass or a transparent plastic. The transparent sheet may be either clear or colored, but must be transparent. For most applications a clear sheet is preferred.

Because of the nature of the reflex-reflective sheet, each sphere is devoted to the reflection of light from its own focal area. Consequently, the sheet reflects any color pattern faithfully and with good resolution, regardless of its complicated nature.

The sign indicia backing member may be of any suitable metal such as a plastic sheet, metal, metal foil, wood, fabric, paperboard, or any other suitable material capable of causing the light incidence on the sign-indicia bearing surface thereon to be reflected to the transparent sheet-form member.

The sign indicia may be in the form of paint, ink, painted paper, painted fabric, phosphorescent material, or even simply a reflective surface such as one of metal foil.

A major advantage of the present reflex-reflective material as used in conjunction with signal indicia backings is that it is separable from such 'backings. Consequently, the reflex-reflective sheet may be provided in the form of sheets or rolls to sign fabricators for cutting to the proper size and applying the proper signa indicia supported on a backing. The sign indicia backing may be removably affixed to the transparent sheet by any suitable means such as clamps, adhesive means, or a frame. When it is desired to change the sign indicia, the backing may be removed and replaced with another sign indicia-bearing backing.

The reflex-reflective sign of the invention is suitable for use as an advertising sign, such as a reflecting billboard, or a smaller sign of any of various types, as for example a traffic sign, and particularly where the use of 4-coloror-more (full color) printing or silk-screening is desirable.

Additionally, and particularly Where costs are competitive the present sign is suitable for use in public service areas, for example, for road markers, stop signs, directional and informational signs of all kinds, and for semicommercial applications such as railroad crossing gates and rolling stock identification, as well as for individualized uses such as driveway markers and street numbers for private residences and the like.

It is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the exact details of construction, operation, or exact materials or embodiments shown and described, as obvious modifications and equivalents will be apparent to one skilled in the art, and the invention is therefore to be limited only by the scope of the appended claims.

. I claim:

1. A reflex-reflective sign comprising an integral sheet of a transparent material having a plurality of convex protuberances provided on both sides thereof, a backing havinginformation indicia provided on a surface thereof, and means supporting said backing With said indicia in contact with the rear surface of said integral sheet, both surfaces of said integral sheet being free of reflective materials other than said indicia.

2. A reflex-reflective sign comprising an integral transparent sheet having a plurality of convex protuberances provided on both surfaces thereof, the protuberances of one surface being in registry with the protuberances of the other surface, an opaque backing sheet having sign indicia provided on a surface thereon, and means supporting said opaque sheet with said sign indicia in contact with the rear surface of said transparent sheet, both surfaces of said integral sheet being free of reflective materials other than said indicia.

1 3. A reflex-reflective sign comprising an integral transparent plastic sheet having a plurality of convex curved lenses molded on both sides thereof, the lenses on one side being in registry with the lenses on the other side, and

opaque backing sheet having sign indicia provided on a surface thereof, and a frame having said transparent sheet positioned therein and removably supporting said opaque sheet with said sign indicia in contact with the rear surface of said transparent sheet, both surfaces of said integral sheet being free of reflective materials other than said indicia.

4. A reflex-reflective sign comprising an integral transparent plastic sheet having a plurality of convexly curved lenses provided on both sides thereof, the lenses on one side being in registry with the lenses on the other, a backing member having sign indicia provided on a surface thereof, and adhesive means removably affixing said backing to said transparent sheet with said sign indicia in contact with the rear surface of said transparent sheet, both surfaces of said integral sheet being free of reflective materials other than said indicia.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,648,977 11/1927 Weidner 40-135 2,149,171 2/1939 Grote 40135 2,432,928 12/1947 Palmquist 40135 2,951,419 9/1960 Lemelson 40-135 FOREIGN PATENTS 403,952 1/1934 Great Britain.

LAWRENCE CHARLES, Primary Examiner. 

